Текст книги "Eighth Grave After Dark"

Автор книги: Darynda Jones

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After being given the go-ahead, Uncle Bob wrapped one arm around Cookie’s waist and lifted her chin. Only then did I realize she’d been crying. He gave her the gentlest of kisses, the kind that attested to the immense love and respect he had for the woman he’d just married, and the crowd erupted in celebration. It was over. After all the preparation, all the work, all the anxiety, it was over. Fast. Much too fast. We still had the reception, of course, and then I would get to work on the case while Cookie enjoyed her pre-honeymoon honeymoon. It would consist of only one night at Buffalo Thunder, a stunning resort and spa in the Pojoaque valley north of Santa Fe.

Cookie had insisted they hold off on their real honeymoon until after Beep arrived. Odd how Beep had changed all our lives so implicitly. She even added her own little kink in the wedding when the guests started giggling because my dress was moving. I couldn’t tell if she was just trying to get comfortable or hosting a kegger. Either way, she was already stealing the show, trying to upstage.

I looked down at her with an attagirl grin.

The moment the crowd erupted, Uncle Bob whisked Cookie back down the aisle, which worked for me, as that was where the food sat.

“I have to admit,” I said to Gemma as we loaded our plates, “you did good.” I chose a kale salad with grilled salmon and an elegant cup filled with macaroni and cheese. I’d definitely be hitting that again, though I needed to leave room for pumpkin mousse, tiramisu, and chocolate truffles. And wedding cake! Couldn’t forget the wedding cake!

Gemma had decided on much of the wedding’s fanfare. The decorations. The type of food. All the extra stuff that made Cookie’s day so special. I owed her. There’d be no living with her now.

“Thanks, sis.” She shouldered me playfully.

Wyatt, her beau, asked, “How are you feeling?”

Reyes was close, as in right next to me, so I had to make it good. “Oh, it’s awful. I have to pee every thirty seconds. My ankles are swollen. I drool when I least expect it. And I keep getting this weird craving for sardines and green chile on melba toast.”

Wyatt had the decency to look aghast, but Reyes just grinned, focusing on the food instead of my suffering. The scoundrel.

“You hate sardines,” Gemma said to me.

“Exactly. It’s like I’m not me anymore and someone—or something—has taken over my body.” I gasped. “It’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers!”

Gemma giggled. “I think it’s called being pregnant.”

“Nobody cares about my suffering,” I said as Reyes took both our plates to a table.

Gemma and Wyatt followed us. “We care,” Gemma said. “Just not a lot.”

She was so sweet.

As the afternoon wore on, Reyes and I got to sit back and watch Cookie in action. For once in her life, my very best friend was the absolute center of attention. And she glowed.

“She’s really something,” Reyes said to me.

I turned to him, his eyes sparkling with appreciation as he watched her and Ubie. “You know, every time you say something like that, I fall a little more in love with you.”

His shimmering gaze landed on me in surprise. But he recovered quickly, his expression intensifying as he took me in. It made my insides tighten.

“I wanted to thank you for being Uncle Bob’s best man.”

He didn’t respond. His gaze dropped to my mouth and lingered there as his heat feathered over my skin. He let one finger slide under the hem of my dress and up over a knee. His touch sent a shiver of delight racing up my thigh to settle in my nether regions. He was so darkly sensual, the moment didn’t last long. There were too many other women clamoring for his attention, and I sat floored at their brazenness. No idea why. It was like that everywhere we went. Well, when we went places. One actually asked him if he could go out front to check her tires.

Man, Cookie had a fertile set of relatives.

Most people stayed outside to mingle. Fortunately, there weren’t many departed in the back. They were mostly on the front lawn. As Reyes helped pull tables together, I chatted with Swopes and Osh, much to the chagrin of Cookie’s second cousins, who were vying for their attention at the time, then with my good friend Pari and her beau, Tre. Then I sought out Quentin and Amber after Cookie and Uncle Bob cut the cake. We’d asked Quentin beforehand if he’d wanted an interpreter and he said no, informing us that nobody listened to the words anyway. He just wanted to enjoy the ceremony. What he’d really wanted was to whisper—aka, sign small where no one else could see—back and forth with Amber through the whole thing. They were absolutely adorable together.

The next obstacle I faced that afternoon was of the four-legged variety. Thrilled that Reyes and I were outside, and taking that as her cue to get her freak on, Artemis ran around like a gerbil on meth, turning occasionally to make sure we were still watching. And God help us if we weren’t. Every time we turned away, she charged. That was fine for most involved, but she was solid to Reyes, Osh, and me. So while she flew through the guests with the greatest of ease, she’d almost taken me out. Twice. Fearing for my and Beep’s safety, Reyes escorted me inside, where more food awaited and guests stood around chatting and eating and generally enjoying the afternoon. But we weren’t in there long before he was needed elsewhere.

Turned out, Cookie had a whole plethora of family that I didn’t know about. They were all aunts, uncles, and cousins. No siblings and her parents had passed away years ago, but she still had family showing up to represent like true homies. She even had that gaggle of second cousins. Five young women who had decided that Reyes, Osh, and Garrett were the most delicious beings they’d ever seen. Even Quentin and Pari’s tall drink of water, Tre, weren’t exempt from the Flirtatious Five. I was right there with them, but I did fear for one’s life when she made googly eyes at Quentin. Amber’s hackles rose to needlelike points, and I was afraid the other girl would not make it home with all her hair. Or all her limbs. Or both eyes. Or a full set of teeth. So many body parts could go missing in such a scenario.

Thankfully, Reyes headed that confrontation off at the pass, and Amber led Quentin to a quiet little table away from most of the guests. But that put Reyes back in the fray. I watched as the five practically assaulted him, each trying to get closer than the next. He took it all in stride, not that I was surprised. He’d been getting that kind of attention his entire life.

And he knew I was watching from inside. I sat at a window as he endured their attention, but the more I watched, the more flirtatious glances he shot my way. The more winks he offered. The more lopsided grins he wore. It was all quite enchanting, but the one that got me, the killer movement that almost sent me into orgasmic bliss, was when he glanced at me from across the sea of guests, gave me a long, languid once-over, then pulled his lower lip in through his teeth. To say the move was sexy would have been like calling a tsunami a ripple in the ocean.

I stood and walked to the door that led outside, about five seconds away from ordering him in, when I heard a female voice.

“Hi, pumpkin head.”

I turned to see my aunt Lillian standing behind me, trying to see over my shoulder. Aunt Lil had died some time in the ’60s. She was part world traveler and part hippie. Since there were so many people around us, I had no choice but to put my phone to my ear so I could talk to her without looking like a mental patient.

“Aunt Lil,” I said, giving her a quick hug before anyone saw us. “When did you get back?”

“Just now, sweet cheeks. What’s all the hubbub about?”

“Cookie got married today.”

“Cookie?”

I nodded. “She married Uncle Bob.”

Aunt Lil cackled with delight at the thought. “’Bout time that boy got hitched. I been worried about him ever since that yogurt incident when he was seven.”

I didn’t dare ask. “So, how long are you staying?”

“Until you pop, I suppose. I got to see this girl everyone is raving about. Whole place is jumping. Nobody will stop talking about her. Even had to call in the riot police, just in case.”

No idea.

“That’s so great, Aunt Lil. I’m thrilled you’ll be here when Beep arrives.”

“Wouldn’t miss it, even though I did have to pass up the chance to go skinny dipping with the seventh Tsar of Russia.” She wriggled her brows at me. “Now, where is the sexy beau of yours? I need something tall, dark, and scrumptious to look at, if you know what I mean. Men on this side aren’t always easy on the eyes.”

I laughed softly. “He’s right over there, being accosted by Cookie’s second cousins.”

“Perfect. I’ll join them.”

I almost doubled over when Aunt Lil disappeared, then reappeared behind Reyes to give his ass a squeeze. He glanced at me, his face accusing as though I had something to do with it. Not to worry. Aunt Lil soon spotted Osh, who was fending off an elderly woman who’d had one too many Chardonnays. The best part, though? Reyes had blushed, and I fell a little further.

4

SOMETIMES I WONDER IF THE PURPOSE OF MY LIFE

IS TO SERVE AS A CAUTIONARY TALE TO OTHERS.

–T-SHIRT

The day had turned out beautiful in every way possible, but one person was missing through all of it: Angel, my departed thirteen-year-old sidekick. He never missed a party. I considered summoning him, but he already knew about the wedding. Surely he would have come if he’d wanted to. He did a lot of stuff with his own adopted family. Maybe they had something going on today as well.

Still, I doubted it. Angel had been acting strange lately. More so than usual. He popped in at the most inopportune times, acted like he had somewhere else to be when he did stop by, and hadn’t hit on me in months. Maybe he was accepting my marriage with Reyes, respecting our union, better than I thought he would. Or maybe the pregnancy freaked him out. Every time he did pop in unexpectedly, he seemed to avoid looking in Beep’s direction. I needed to talk to him about it. Get him counseling. Though that could be difficult, considering the situation. If only Gemma could interact with the departed.

After two more hours of mingling, guests started to slowly dissipate. Not literally, as they were corporeal, but they began giving their final congratulations and saying their good-byes. I wondered why they were leaving before Cookie and Uncle Bob did. The happy couple was supposed to head off to its pre-honeymoon honeymoon bliss while being pelted mercilessly with rice. It was tradition, and it wasn’t often I got to throw things at my BFF or my uncle. I had every intention of making every throw count, but they wouldn’t leave. Cookie was still in her wedding dress and Ubie in his tux and they were mingling and dancing and eating and drinking as though they had no intention of leaving.

Didn’t they just want to be away from it all? I wanted to be alone with my sexy-as-hell husband so bad, I ached. But I didn’t want him changing out of that tux before I had my way with him. How many opportunities would I have to rip a tux off him? I could reenact all those James Bond fantasies I’d had since I was, like, two. But I had another appointment to attend soon, so the clothes ripping would have to wait. It was probably a good thing Reyes was being kept so busy. He had checked in off and on, but his attention was always needed here or there. He did give an incredible toast that only once mentioned the fact that Uncle Bob had wrongfully convicted him of murder. So that was nice.

When yet another woman old enough to be his grandmother headed Reyes off and demanded his attention before he could get to me, I giggled at the forced smile on his face. She flirted, batted her lashes, and patted his biceps about twelve times too many for his comfort. He took out his phone and typed as the woman spoke to him, her movements exaggerated. I couldn’t be certain, but I had a feeling she was talking to him about how she used to be a pole dancer until her hip gave out.

My phone chimed. I took it out of the delicate clutch that matched my dress and read Reyes’s text.

Aren’t you going to save me?

I don’t know. I’m having a lot of fun right now. Wanna sext?

He crossed an arm over his chest while holding his phone. One corner of his mouth twitched as he leaned back against a tree and typed.

Absolutely.

Sweet. What are you wearing?

His eyes sparkled with mirth.

Animal print boxers and striped socks.

I burst out laughing, gaining the attention of everyone around me. I texted back, only this time I wasn’t teasing.

You are so beautiful. How are you even real?

He sobered, staring at the phone a solid minute as the woman described her hip replacement surgery. At least, that’s what it looked like from my vantage. He lifted an index finger to put the woman on pause right when she was getting to her recovery and strode toward me. His gaze didn’t waver from mine as he walked, his gait like that of a panther on the prowl, the tux adding to the allure, and my body flooded with a molten heat that pooled deep in my abdomen. He took the three steps to the kitchen with one long stride and stopped in front of me.

I looked up and let my gaze trace the outline of his full mouth, the angles of his strong jaw.

After a moment, he wrapped a hand around my neck as though to pull me to him, but Ashley called out.

“Aunt Charley! Uncle Reyes! Mom says we have to go.”

After several seconds, he managed to catch her just as she jumped into his arms.

“Can I stay the night? Pleeeeeeease.”

Bianca walked up behind her and shook her head at us, adding a threatening glare should we even think about defying her.

I patted Ashley’s back, in awe of the death grip she had on Reyes’s neck. She put her head on his shoulder and offered me her prettiest pout.

Amador stepped up to take her. “Uncle Reyes has enough women in his life today,” he said, peeling Ashley off him with a chuckle. “He doesn’t need a fluffy orange tornado following him around.” He had been calling our dresses orange all day, mostly because Ashley was not a fan of anything orange.

“Cimmanom,” Ashley said, disappointed we weren’t having a slumber party.

“Aunt Charley needs to rest,” Bianca said, taking her hand when Amador set her down.

“We can rest together,” she argued.

I’d spoiled her with our movie nights, not that I regretted a second of it.

“We watch movies while Uncle Reyes makes cockporn.”

Everyone in the immediate area stilled while Reyes and I pressed our mouths together, trying not to crack up. This was a serious situation, and cracking up now would just be wrong.

“Popcorn, honey,” Amador said. Then he looked at Bianca. “Hon, she really needs to learn how to say that word.”

My laughter came out as more of a snort. I coughed to cover it up. Reyes just turned his head, unable to lose the grin.

“I’ve tried,” Bianca said, flustered. “Tell you what, we’ll go to McDonald’s when we get home. How does that sound?”

That was a pretty big deal. Bianca did not believe in feeding her children fast food.

“Yay!” Stephen said as he ran up, zigzagged, feigned a left turn, took a right before circling the parental units and shooting off in the opposite direction. Reyes caught him just as he sped past. He giggled as he was lifted high into the air, then brought back down into Reyes’s arms. “I’m going to be fast like you,” he told Reyes.

“I bet your dad’s faster,” he said.

Amador scoffed playfully. “Don’t even start with that crap. I learned my lesson long ago.”

Bianca tickled Stephen’s bare foot. “If we’re going to McDonald’s, you’ll have to put your shoes on.”

Stephen had never been a big fan of shoes. Or socks. Or clothes in general. He’d once escaped from his house in his skivvies. They found him running down the street, telling anyone who would listen that his mother had been abducted by aliens.

“I don’t like those shoes,” he said, wiggling into the crook of Reyes’s neck to get away from his mother while she tried to slip his socks onto him.

“Do you remember what the sign at McDonald’s says when you go in? ‘No bare feet.’”

He stopped wiggling and looked at her as though she’d lost her mind. “I’m not a bear.”

I fought yet another giggle.

“He has a point,” Reyes said.

“Yeah, laugh it up, pendejo,” Amador volleyed. “Your time is coming.”

“I can hardly wait,” Reyes said to me.

We hugged good-bye, my heart full of hopes and dreams for Beep. Watching Reyes with Ashley and Stephen was one of the highlights of my life. I couldn’t wait to see how he’d behave with Beep. If she was half as charming as Amador and Bianca’s kids—

Then the truth hit me. I looked down at Beep, then over at Reyes. She would have him wrapped around her little finger in no time. “We could be in trouble.”

He laughed and pulled me into his arms. “I have no doubt,” he said, walking me to a dark corner of the kitchen.

I giggled when he pressed himself into me. Gasped when he bent to nibble an earlobe. “I’m the size of Nevada. How can you even want me?”

“I happen to love Nevada,” he countered, his voice as deep and soft as his kisses.

If it weren’t for the lady standing right beside us, the moment would have been perfect.

“You are the oldest soul I’ve ever come across,” she said, astonished as she gazed at me, her eyes unblinking.

“Um, thank you?” I said as Reyes lifted his head at last.

I looked over at the woman. She wore an outdated floral dress and had clearly forgone a bra. She really needed the support a bra could offer her. I’d seen her piddling about, looking in our drawers when she thought no one was paying attention. I was certain she’d gone through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

“You’re ancient.”

That wasn’t offensive at all. I straightened. “I’m only—”

“You are older than the stardust in the sky,” she said, interrupting. Her eyes were glassed over, and I decided right then and there, no more open bars at weddings. Brought out the crazies.

Reyes stepped out of my arms then, as though something outside had caught his attention, and said, “I have to go check on Artemis.”

“Artemis?” I asked, baffled. Since when did he have to check on a departed dog? Seriously, what kind of trouble could she get into?

“You are as old as time itself.”

“Look,” I said, growing frustrated, “that’s just not something a girl wants to hear.”

“You are older than—”

“Wow, you know what?” I said as I led her back into the kitchen where Denise was cleaning up. “There’s even more champagne in here. Don’t let anyone try to convince you we’re out. You call ’em on it, okay?”

Cookie walked in then, a horrified expression on her face.

“Lucille, why don’t you go find Uncle Tommy? He’s been looking for you.”

“Oh, my,” said the woman, rushing back outside.

“I am so sorry,” Cookie said. “Lucille won’t bother you again. Uncle Tommy has been gone for decades. She’ll never find him.”

“Oh, no. How did he die?”

“Oh, he didn’t die. He just packed up one night and left to live in the wilds of Alaska. We still get a postcard every few years.”

“You have a very eclectic collection of relatives.” I looked at Denise as she tried to scrub a stain out of the tablecloth. “But don’t we all?”

“No, you’re right. Mine is a little more eclectic than others, which is why you’re only just meeting most of them.”

“They’re great. Really, Cook, but you never told me your cousin Lucille was clairvoyant.”

“Oh, yeah, she’s … different. Remember? I told you that one night we were playing Screw Your Neighbor with that couple from the first floor.”

“Yes, you told me she’s different. You didn’t tell me she’s clairvoyant.”

Cookie cast a doubtful gaze. “Like clairvoyant clairvoyant?”

“Yep. Maybe that’s where Amber gets it.”

Cookie’s expression did a 180, shifting from doubt to horror. “Bite your tongue. Amber is nothing like Lucille.” I felt a spike of fear shudder through her. “That woman has sample packs of Preparation H from the 1970s.”

“That may be, but it must run in your family. There is something very special about your daughter.”

“Yes. Special. Just not that special.”

I cracked up. “You’re right. Odds are, Lucille was labeled insane at a very young age. But she’s really just—”

“Eccentric,” Cookie finished. “I get it. I just didn’t know she was gifted.”

“I doubt anyone does. But at least you know to nurture Amber’s gifts. Not suppress them before they have a chance to bloom and then she becomes the lady that collects samples of hemorrhoid medication.”

“I will do anything to avoid that.” She indicated Lucille with a nod. The poor woman was asking everyone who was left if they’d seen Tommy.

“Hey,” I said, frowning at her, “aren’t you supposed to be on your way to your one-night stand? I mean, your pre-honeymoon honeymoon?”

She laughed. “Well, we were, but there is a missing girl out there. She takes precedence.”

“What?” A jolt of alarm swept through me, not unlike a body shot might have. “Cook, no. This is your wedding day. You are not, under any circumstances, working. Oh my God, I can’t even—”

My phone chimed and I looked down. It was the text I’d been waiting for.

“I have to go—”

“Go?”

“—but you are going on your pre-honeymoon honeymoon, and that is an order.”

“Where are you going?”

“I mean it, Cook,” I said as I hurried—aka waddled faster than usual—past her. “I don’t want to see you when I get back.”

“You can’t leave the grounds.”

I grabbed a sweater, then rushed out the front door, saying just before it closed, “Go!”

*   *   *

I walked quickly past some guests loitering by the cars out front, hoping they wouldn’t wave me down for a chat. I also avoided eye contact with the departed who stood between me and my destination, winding through them, hoping I didn’t look drunk to the loiterers. Seriously, didn’t they have homes? I kept my head down and my stride quick. I had places to be, and I couldn’t risk Reyes coming back to find me gone. He would definitely come looking for me.

Fortunately, he wouldn’t see me go into the woods from the backyard unless he was specifically watching. I made sure to go straight for the cover of trees and stuck to them until I came around to a path that led to an access road about a hundred yards from the convent. I hurried as fast as my legs could carry the two of us, wobbling through the brush and dry yellow grass, dodging tree branches and departed alike. Even though I knew the Twelve couldn’t come onto the sacred ground, I still kept a constant vigil. I’d been attacked more than once. Their teeth were like razors set on thick, powerful jaws. It was not something I wanted to experience again.

I could hear them growling in the distance, the sound a low rumble over the land, reminding me that in all the months we’d been here, they’d never stopped patrolling the borders. The access road came into view at last. The deeper I ventured into the woods, the more nervous I became. A blue sedan sat parked there. I stopped, my ankles aching from traversing the uneven ground. The growls had grown louder, echoing off the trees around me and reverberating in my chest. I fought to control my fear lest I accidentally summon the one man I didn’t want to know I was meeting another of his gender. Alone. But it wasn’t easy. The hellhounds knew I was taking a direct path to their jaws. I could go only a few more feet before they would latch on to me and pull me off the blessed dirt. I glanced back one more time to make sure Reyes hadn’t followed me; then I called out to him.

“I’m here,” I said.

A man, tall, in his early sixties, wearing a suit and a military cut, stepped from behind a tree and walked toward me.

“Mr. Alaniz,” I said as he greeted me with a once-over.

“Ms. Davidson. I didn’t realize this was a formal affair.”

“This old thing?” I asked, teasing. “I just threw this on at the last minute.” When he winked at me, I added, “Actually, my best friend got married today. I didn’t have time to change.”

“I understand, but I would advise against walking out here in those shoes again, especially in your condition.”

“I know, but I had to sneak away. Thanks again, by the way, for meeting me like this.”

“My pleasure,” he said, his curiosity about me and our clandestine meetings clawing at him. I could feel it, but it wasn’t his place to ask.

Mr. Alaniz was the private investigator I’d hired a couple of weeks after we’d absconded to the convent. Since I couldn’t be out there trying to figure out firsthand who murdered my father, I’d hired someone who could. True, Uncle Bob and the entire Albuquerque Police Department were on the case, but I’d never felt so helpless, so useless. Freedom meant a lot more to me than it used to, and I had to conduct my own investigation one way or another. I had to do what I could, and if that meant doing it against Reyes’s and Uncle Bob’s wishes, so be it.

He looked past me, then said, “I’m not going to ask why we meet in secret like this, but I have to know if you are in danger.”

I listened to the heavy breathing of the hounds. If he only knew.

“No,” I said, dismissing the thought with a wave. “Absolutely not.” And I wasn’t. Not in the way that he meant. He wanted to know if I was in any danger from Reyes or anyone else who could stumble upon us.

“And if you get caught? What then?”

What then, indeed. “Let’s just say my husband would be upset with me, but, no, I would never be in any danger from him. Never.”

He seemed satisfied with my answer but looked past me again for good measure.

“What did you find out?” I asked, trying to hurry this along. Reyes would notice my absence soon. I was a little surprised he hadn’t figured out my secret meetings with Mr. Alaniz before now. I was bright, according to everyone around me. So bright, I could be seen from anywhere on the planet. Why, then, didn’t he see when I snuck out of the convent? How did he not know where I was every minute of every day?

A growl rumbled not ten feet away from me. I stilled and watched as a glistening of silver appeared, then disappeared in the trees. Fear tightened around my chest as Mr. Alaniz scratched his chin where a smattering of blond stubble grew. He pulled out a notepad.

I’d been to this spot a dozen times. They had never gotten this close. Right after we’d escaped to the convent, Osh had marked the sacred grounds with stakes, then threaded string around the entire area to indicate the border. Either I was closer to the border than I thought, or Osh’s calculations were wrong.

I saw another flash of silver as a hellhound’s muscles rolled in the shadows of the trees. I could hear its breathing, causing me to retreat involuntarily, but it kept its distance. As long as we had an accord, I didn’t feel the need to run screaming back to the convent, but an uneasiness settled in my shoulders and neck, my senses on high alert.

“Your uncle is on the right track,” Mr. Alaniz said.

I blinked back to him. “In what way?”

“You were right. After the last time we met, I staked out the place.” He gestured toward another small access road above us. “I waited there, and sure enough, a man showed up and parked right about where I am parked now.” He indicated his car with a nod, and an excited thrill ran up my spine.

“Were you able to follow him?” I asked. The entire police department had been looking for this guy, but he seemed to be a ghost. Until now.

“I was.”

I clapped. It was the first good news we’d had in months. Apparently, some guy had been following me my entire life. My father figured it out and had been tailing the man when he died. We found pictures that my dad had taken of him, but we could never get an ID. So while my father was able to track him, we couldn’t get within a mile of the guy. That we knew of, anyway. I began to wonder if he’d vanished until I was out walking Beep and Artemis one day and saw a car parked on the access road. The moment I looked up, the driver started the car and sped off, but I recognized him from the pictures my father had shot of him.

When my dad went missing, we found those pictures along with a whole slew of other photographs in the hotel room where he’d been staying. Photographs of me growing up. Some were as recent as mere days before my father died, and it couldn’t have been a coincidence that he died soon after finding this guy. Whoever he was, he could have had something to do with my dad’s death. And even if he didn’t, I really wanted to know why he had been following me, literally, since the day I was born.

“But there’s more to it. While you were right, he does have pictures of you from when you were very young, when I tailed him back to his apartment, I managed to snap some shots through his windows. Just like you said, he had pictures of you, articles, yearbook photos, pretty much your entire life pasted on his walls, but some of them were from just after you were born.”

“And?”

“And, he isn’t old enough to have been following you that long. He’s barely in his thirties. Unless he took up stalking at age five, someone else is involved. Has been involved for a very long time.”

He was right, and I had a feeling I knew who—or more precisely, what—was behind this.

Mr. Alaniz handed me a photograph.

I nodded. “That’s him. That’s the guy from my dad’s surveillance photos.”

“Then you were right. He does work for the Vatican.”

I knew it. A former client, Father Glenn, had clued me into the fact that the Vatican had been keeping a file on me since I was born—but why? And if my dad discovered the truth, would the Church have had him killed? Over a few photos? Either way, I needed proof of this man’s existence. And his address.

But first, “How do you know he was working for the Vatican for sure? Do you have any proof?”

“They’re paying his bills, for one thing,” he replied with a shrug. “He also gets a call from a number in Italy about once a week, a number registered to an office in Vatican City. I don’t know much about the Vatican, I have to admit, but I’m sure they have several dozen departments. I couldn’t determine which one this number was registered to, however.”

“And how did you find out he got a call from them at all?” I asked, liking his results.